Livingston County, Illinois

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Livingston County, Illinois
Location in the state of Illinois
Illinois's location in the U.S.
Founded	1837
Seat	Pontiac
Largest city	Pontiac
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	1,045.43 sq mi (2,708 km²) 1,043.76 sq mi (2,703 km²) 1.67 sq mi (4 km²), 0.16%
Population  - (2000)  - Density	39,678 38/sq mi (15/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Livingston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of 2000, the population was 39,678. Its county seat is Pontiac.

The Pontiac Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Livingston County.

History

Livingston was established on February 27, 1837. It was formed from parts of McLean, LaSalle, and Iroquois counties, and named after Edward Livingston, a prominent politician who was mayor of New York City and represented New York in the United States House of Representatives and Louisiana in both houses of Congress. He later served as Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and as Minister to France. Although he had no connections to Illinois, the General Assembly found him accomplished enough to name a county after him.

Livingston County at the time of its creation in 1837

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,045.43 square miles (2,707.7 km²), of which 1,043.76 square miles (2,703.3 km²) (or 99.84%) is land and 1.67 square miles (4.3 km²) (or 0.16%) is water.

Major highways

• Interstate 55
• U.S. Highway 24
• Illinois Route 17
• Illinois Route 23
• Illinois Route 47
• Illinois Route 116

Adjacent counties

• Grundy County - north
• Kankakee County - northeast
• Ford County - southeast
• McLean County - southwest
• Woodford County - west
• LaSalle County - northwest

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	42,035		—
1910	40,465		−3.7%
1920	39,070		−3.4%
1930	39,092		0.1%
1940	38,838		−0.6%
1950	37,809		−2.6%
1960	40,341		6.7%
1970	40,690		0.9%
1980	41,381		1.7%
1990	39,301		−5.0%
2000	39,678		1.0%
2010	38,950		−1.8%
IL Counties 1900-1990

As of the census of 2000, there were 39,678 people, 14,374 households, and 9,946 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile (15/km²). There were 15,297 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.32% White, 5.17% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.22% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. 2.66% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 35.6% were of German, 15.4% American, 12.4% Irish and 7.5% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 96.8% spoke English and 2.4% Spanish as their first language.

There were 14,374 households out of which 32.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.80% were married couples living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.80% were non-families. 26.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,342, and the median income for a family was $47,958. Males had a median income of $36,414 versus $23,479 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,347. About 5.80% of families and 8.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.90% of those under age 18 and 8.50% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

The Illinois Department of Corrections operates two prisons in the county.

Pontiac Correctional Center is located in Pontiac. Pontiac houses the male death row. Prior to the January 11, 2003 commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Pontiac, Menard, and Tamms correctional centers. Dwight Correctional Center is within Nevada Township in an unincorporated area in the county. Dwight Correctional Center houses the State of Illinois female death row.

Notable residents

• Moira Harris - actress and wife of Gary Sinise.
• Irene Hunt - Newbery Medal-winning author.
• Donald Attig - businessman and adventurer.
• Elwood Blues and 'Joliet' Jake Blues - fictional musicians and career criminals, portrayed by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi respectively. The main characters of The Blues Brothers movie were born in Dwight, Livingston County, Illinois

Cities and towns

Campus Chatsworth Cornell Cullom Dwight Emington Fairbury

Flanagan Forrest Long Point Odell Pontiac Saunemin Strawn

Townships

Livingston County is divided into thirty townships:

Amity Avoca Belle Prairie Broughton Charlotte Chatsworth Dwight Eppards Point Esmen Fayette

Forrest Germanville Indian Grove Long Point Nebraska Nevada Newtown Odell Owego Pike

Pleasant Ridge Pontiac Reading Rooks Creek Round Grove Saunemin Sullivan Sunbury Union Waldo

Climate and weather

Climate chart for Pontiac, Illinois
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
1.63   30 14	1.44   36 18	2.82   48 29	3.41   62 39	3.83   73 50	4.11   82 60	4.07   85 64	3.56   83 62	3.04   77 54	2.67   65 42	3.02   49 31	2.51   35 20
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm source: The Weather Channel

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Pontiac have ranged from a low of 14 °F (−10 °C) in January to a high of 85 °F (29 °C) in July, although a record low of −24 °F (−31.1 °C) was recorded in January 1927 and a record high of 108 °F (42 °C) was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.44 inches (37 mm) in February to 4.11 inches (104 mm) in June.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Livingston County, Illinois